Friday, December 30, 2016

LARC Meetings are the fourth Thursday of the month at 7pm with the exception of July and August where general membership meetings are suspended. Boot camp meets at 6:15 pm, and VE testing starts at 5:30 pm. We meet at 700 South Bay Road in North Syracuse, New York in the North Syracuse Community Center. Please fill out an application and mail it to us at the address below, or bring it with you to a meeting and we’ll be happy to welcome you into the club!
More info at: http://www.w2cm.com/

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

The chapter’s last meeting for 2016 is rapidly approaching on this Friday, December 30th. As usual it will be held at the Denny’s Restaurant on South Bay Road (North Syracuse) and will feature a program on a number of the restoration projects that the local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society has carried out. Hope to see you there.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Technician License Class

Beginning
January 21st, the Tompkins County Amateur Radio Association will conduct a
training course for the Technician class amateur radio license, an entry-level
license for the hobby of amateur radio.

Classes
will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturdays at the Tompkins County Department
of Emergency Response, 92 Brown Road, by the Ithaca Airport.

The
course will meet for 9 weeks ending March 25th. The last class will be a test
review session.

Course
attendees can take a Federal Communications Commission Technician class license
exam at the same location on March 27th at 7 p.m.

There
are no prerequisites to take the amateur radio license course. A technical
background is not needed for the license, but it is helpful.

There
are several ways to participate in this course:

Some
students will want to participate in the full 9 week course. This course
will generally follow the ARRL Technician License Manual mixing lectures
with numerous hands-on activities.

Some
students will want to attend only the sessions they need to prepare for
the license exam. We will try to assist these students when they attend a
session.

Some
students plan to take the course online and may need some advice on the
different commercial and free online services. We encourage these
interested students to attend the first meeting to find the information
they need.

There
is no fee for the course. Registration will be limited to 30 students. The
course guide is the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 3rd edition, and costs
$29.95 (ISBN 978-1625950130). The Manual can be purchased from Amazon or the
ARRL. The March license examination session has a separate fee of $14.

Friday, December 16, 2016

The Roc City Net on the 145.110 repeater in Rochester has gone "STATEWIDE". That's right, the Sunday night 2 meter Roc City Net hosted by K2QZR; Joe, is now being linked into the UHF linked "Empire State Network". From Albany to Buffalo and Binghamton to Watertown, there is a very good chance you may be able to get into one of these repeaters: The list can be found here: http://www.upstateham.com/p/the-empire-state-network-linked.html This is great bunch of folks and always some interesting topics, info, and sometimes stuff for sale.

147.00 CNY Swap Net - Wednesdays at 7:00pm

The 147.00 CNY system Swap Net hosted by N2VZD; Tim can be a lot of fun. You should really try to check this one out. The Swap net is also now being linked into the UHF linked "Empire State Network". From Albany to Buffalo and Binghamton to Watertown, there is a very good chance you may be able to get into one of these fine repeaters: The list can be found here:http://www.upstateham.com/p/the-empire-state-network-linked.html

Friday, December 9, 2016

Winter Field Day is coming up and is an opportunity to hone your winter outdoor operating skills.

Purpose: To encourage emergency operating preparedness in the winter.When: The contest runs for 24 hours during the last full weekend in January each year from 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Saturday to 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Sunday.
For 2017, the dates are January 28 and 29, 2016. Station set up may begin no earlier than 1300 UTC (8:00 AM EST) on January 28, 2016.

Latest From QRZ.com: Without further adieu and by popular demand!

We are back! The Winter Field Day Association brings you Winter Field Day.

Join Us on Saturday, January 28 at 1900z (2:00 PM EST) until Sunday, January 29 at 1900z (2:00 PM EST). On all the bands and modes, except the WARC bands.

We have changed the rules so now it will be similar to ARRL Field Day. For example the exchange will be WX4ET 1O TN, for the Multi Ops. It will be by the number of stations, for example WX4TN 10O TN.

Operate solo, in pairs, or as a team (multi) from home, a remote location, indoors, or outdoors... it's up to you! Earn bonus points for outdoor operation, non-commercial power, and remote locations. Winter Field Day is a perfect opportunity for your club or team to put together an outing.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Tune in on 3.916 mhz, and give the kids or grand-kids a chance to talk to Santa Claus at the North Pole! It is indeed a magical experience to experience kids talking with Santa through the magic of Amateur Radio!

The 3916 Santa Net is on the air every night, November 25th through December 24th at 7:30 PM Central. To participate in The Santa Net, just have your kids prepared to tell Santa their top 2-3 gift wishes.

The Santa Nets are presented annually by The 3916 Nets. The Weather Bunch, The Rag Chew Crew, The Tailgaters, The Freewheelers and The 3916 Late Late Show are all amateur radio nets that meet on 3.916 MHz.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

SKYWARN Recognition Day will be December 3, 2016 (0000 – 2400 UTC). In local terms it
is Friday December 2nd, 7:00 PM till Saturday December 3rd, 7:00 PM. National Weather
Service offices across the country will be on the air for 24 hours. This special event was started in 1999. The goal is to contact as many weather service offices as possible using repeaters, IRLP, Echolink, and HF. This is a fun event for new hams that may only have a technician license. Many of the weather service offices will be on Echolink and IRLP.

The National Weather Service office in Buffalo will be participating again this year. Look for WX2BUF on Echolink and you can also check in on the 145.110 repeater. Submit your total number of weather service office contacts for a certificate from the National Weather Service. More information is available from: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

New York State Weather Mesonets go on the air! As Ham's, many of us like to keep tabs on the weather in our area. A new statewide weather-station network will help us do that. Announced back in early 2015, the New York State Mesonet network will constitute 125 weather stations when completed, averaging about two stations per county. As of October 2016 there are already over 100 stations on line. The stations collect 3-D, high-resolution data from both surface and atmospheric levels and send that data to emergency-management officials and weather forecasters so they will have an edge on the unexpected. Each site also contains a high-resolution video camera for a live look at the weather.The sites report changes in weather every five minutes, with the potential to observe and record changes in air, soil moisture, wind and ice. The new stations also monitor radiation patterns.These observations are then sent to SUNY Albany, the National Weather Service and the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Then, the observations are disseminated to the public on the Mesonet’s website, nysmesonet.org. The FEMA-funded Mesonet project was awarded in the wake of recent national disasters, including Superstorm Sandy.

Monday, November 7, 2016

R.W. Antenna store
has decided to bring back a INDOOR Winter HamFest to the Western NY area. As some of you know, we at R.W. Antenna store
have been trying to revive an old Ham Radio Tradition of a larger scale HamFest
here in Western NY. Hopefully some of you OM's and YL's remember Ham O Rama!!

This HamFest was
put together in a very short time. We saw the need for an end of year event and
are working hard to deliver. We will
have a huge announcement of a much larger HamFest being created for the 2017
season.

The ultimate
goal is to bring the ham community together, I would love to see clubs from up
to 300 miles away attend as we have BIG NEWS for a future HamFest the Western
New York area has been starving for.

Monday, October 24, 2016

The United States Department of Defense with the Departments of United States Army and Air Force and United States MARS are holding their fourth quarter exercise.

This exercise is an continuous 48hr exercise comprising of Military, Government, and MARS stations testing the continuity of communications during an unknown event that will simulate a wide spread communications failure.

For military stations the exercise runs Sunday 30 October through Tuesday 1 November 2016 but Amateurs have been asked to participate in a few key specific times throughout the days of Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st.

The DOD and Military command have asked for Amateurs in Western New York to help in this exercise by providing simple county status information for their stations at specified times on the 60 Meter INTEROP channel 1 throughout the exercise.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Most upstate NY counties are conducting Winter SkyWarn Training in October and November.

The training will be held at various area locations and on-line. This class is for beginners or anybody that has a general interest in weather. These classes train volunteers how to accurately measure and report snowfall totals to the National Weather Service. The class is free and open to everyone; no age requirements, previous training, or equipment is required.

The SKYWARN program is a nationwide program that provides real-time severe weather reports to the National Weather Service. "Trained weather spotters provide valuable lifesaving information to the National Weather Service and we encourage those who have an interest in weather to participate in this critical program," said David Nicosia, Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Binghamton NY. "Despite all the technological advances, SKYWARN Spotter reports are still crucial to the National Weather Service in providing more accurate severe weather warnings," Nicosia continues.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

This October Bootcamp will cover the options for setting up a portable antenna for HF use. In case of
emergency, we are all ready to use VHF/UHF for disaster communications, but few of us are prepared to get an HF station on the air because few of us have an antenna option. There are several inexpensive options along with some commercial choices that will enable you to be an effective resource during an emergency. Come learn and enjoy yourself.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

LARC/RAGS public service team is looking for additional manpower. They need 3 or 4 more volunteers for This Sunday's (10/9/16) Empire State Marathon in Syracuse. If you are available and want more information please contact K9CHP; Amir at K9CHP@arrl.net.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Those of you who were at the Elmira Hamfest may have watched the preparation of a balloon and launch last Saturday morning. Well as I write this, that balloon is now over Central China.

Today, I received an email update from KD2EAT; Mike Hojnowski. Mike is a local amateur who has quite a bit of experience with balloon launches. Here is a brief update and some links (also see the tracking live) so you can get some more background on this very interesting flight:

from Mike: I launched a pico "floater" balloon at the Elmira Hamfest this past Saturday. It's Solar powered, using the WSPR protocol to beacon its position at about 10mw. It has performed very well, and now, 6 flight days later, it's in Central China and going strong.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Thanks to K2WOP; Curt, we have finally picked a fall date to get another breakfast scheduled and its open to ALL local Hams. It will be Saturday, November 5th, 8:30-11 am, come early or stay late. This is a great chance to meet up with some of the folks you talk to on the air, but possibly have never met in person. So all you drive time radio jockeys, "6M QCWA Netters", CNY SWAP and Hobby Net check-ins (along with anyone else) come join us for a nice social gathering. The last breakfast was a fun time and we had great food and service from the folks at Finally Ours diner - we hope to see you all there on the 5th of November.

Location: The "Finally Ours Diner" is at 3788 West Seneca Turnpike, at the corner with Cedarville Rd. in the Onondaga Hill area of Syracuse (see directions here:http://finallyoursdiner.com/hours-contact ).

Sunday, September 18, 2016

The Liverpool Amateur Radio Club (LARC), the Amateur Radio community and The New York State Police (Troop T) are again pleased to sponsor the 2016 Pumpkin Patrol. (Most counties across NY have Ham radio groups participating)

This is a two night public service event to be held on October 30th (Sun.) and 31st (Mon.) from 19:00 to 21:00 hours. The chairman is seeking Amateur Radio Operators who can dedicate one or both evenings. Operators are encouraged to work in pairs and non-ham friends, family or pets are encouraged to accompany them. Teams will operate from their vehicles (no walking or standing required) and repeater coverage (146.31/91) is generally okay for handheld.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

I am writing to you today because we are at a crossroad in our efforts to obtain passage of The Amateur Radio Parity Act.

Our legislative efforts scored a major victory in our campaign when The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, September 12th. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where we need every Senator to approve the bill.

You are one of over 730,000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators living in the United States. Many of you already live in deed-restricted communities, and that number grows daily.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL HAMS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS!

•If you want to have effective outdoor antennas but are not currently allowed to do so by your Home Owner’s Association, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

•If you already have outdoor antennas, but want to support your fellow hams, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

•If you want to preserve your ability to install effective outdoor antennas on property that you own, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

We need you to reach out to your Senators TODAY! Right away.

Please help us in the effort. Please go to this linked website and follow the prompts:

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

It's all about NY on October 15 as radio amateurs from
around the world get on the air to work all 62 NY counties, Chautauqua to
Clinton, Niagara to Suffolk. A dozen or
more mobile operators will take to the mean streets of NYC or the bucolic
surrounds of the Southern Tier and North Country. Brave souls will sneak out to the woodlands
to activate a rare county, Field Day style, as temps may dip into the 30's. And good, solid Elmers will open up their
shacks to new hams and build excitement as the spotlight is on US!

The NYQP game is easy to play as all operating modes and
bands are eligible. The QSO exchange is
simple for NY operators: signal report
and county. For those eager out-of-state
ops wanting to work all 62 counties, they'll send a signal report and their
state, province or DX.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

LARC meetings are the fourth Thursday of the month at 7pm with the exception of July and August where general membership meetings are suspended. November’s meeting is the Third Thursday of the month to allow observance of Thanksgiving.

Boot camp meets at 6:15 pm, and VE testing starts at 5:30 pm. We meet at 700 South Bay Road in North Syracuse, New York in the North Syracuse Community Center.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AND ARMY MARS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IS HOLDING ITS 3RD QUARTER COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE ON MONDAY AUGUST 15TH FROM 08:00 EST TO 20:00 EST AND THEY ARE AGAIN ASKING FOR AMATEUR RADIO SUPPORT IN GATHERING INFORMATION.

THE PREMISE OF THE EXERCISE IS A TOTAL LOSS OF INTERNET AND LANDLINE COMMUNICATIONS THROUGHOUT THE NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY AREAS.

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IS ASKING FOR AMATEUR OPERATORS TO PROVIDE A COUNTY STATUS MESSAGE TO MILITARY STATIONS USING THE 60 METER INTEROP FREQUNCIES.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS TYPE OF MESSAGE IS THE STATUS OF UTILITES SUCH AS WATER, POWER, LANDLINE, LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Rochester Amateur Radio Association (RARA) will also have their station K2R from the grounds of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse for the 2016 International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend. This annual Amateur Radio weekend event was founded in 1995 by 2 members of the AYR Amateur Radio Group, AARG, Scotland and held on the 3rd full weekend in August. This year’s event takes place August 20 & 21 - Duration 48 hours from 0001 UTC 20.8.2016
This is not a contest, it is simply a fun event to highlight lighthouses and lightships around the world.

The 2015 weekend was disappointing do to poor conditions on the airwaves. Here is a weekend summary:
 63 contacts in US and Canada
 22 States
 11 Lighthouses
 2 Lightships
If you would like to join us stop down. Contact Forest, WA2MZG,if you would like to help. WA2MZG@ARRL.NET(from the August 2016 RARA Rag newsletter)

Monday, August 1, 2016

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association has decided on the new location for Hamvention 2017. After the announcement last week of the closing of the HARA Center, the hamfests long time home, it has been announced that the group intends to move the event to nearby Greene County outside of Dayton. The new location is the Greene County Fairgrounds and Exposition Center in Xenia, Ohio.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Hams are needed to provide communications for the annual
Tromptown Run ½ marathon in DeRuyter NY on Thursday evening August 11th. We
meet at 5 PM and the marathon run begins at 5:45PM. We are usually finished not
too long after dark. If you can not be there for the start of the race that is
fine, as it takes time for runners to get around the course. We will assign you
to a post no matter when you arrive. This race runs rain or shine. 12 hams will
keep us from having to “leapfrog” from post to post.

We are there primarily for safety communications, however
the race organizer (Win Skeele) likes to know where the first runners {male and
female} are and of course the last runners.

NCS will be set up at the finish line at the corner of
Mechanic and Railroad St., and we can meet there; however it is difficult to
get in and out of the village because of the crowds and traffic, so we tend to
make assignments over the air as hams near the region. We will use 147.420 simplex. This is not an HT event; mobile
radios with some power and good antennas are needed. Cellular telephone and
repeater coverage are spotty.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Just a reminder that the July meeting of Chapter 29 is coming up this Friday, July 29th at 11:30. It takes place at Denny's, 201 Lawrence Rd E (N. Syracuse) (see the QCWA web site for more info at: http://www.qcwa.org/chapter029.htm

In addition to the usual camaraderie the program will be as follows:

• Tickets for the Chapter 29 50th Anniversary Luncheon on September 23rd will go on sale at the subsidized price of $10/person.
• Tom Shaw-AB2PG will talk about Honor Flight and an upcoming flight to Washington, DC.
• Fred Legawiec-W2LGA will update us on the International Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend on August 20-21 and how you can visit/operate/contact the station he will be operating at the Verona Beach Lighthouse.
• Steve Auyer-N2TKX will bring us up to date on the Antique Wireless Association’s August 18-20 Convention near Rochester, the large fleamarket, and the presentations at the convention.

Should be an interesting meeting (except for Steve who will probably be boring).

73, Steve; N2TKX

These monthly meetings are open to all. You don't need to be a member or have 25 years in the hobby to attend.

Friday, July 22, 2016

An interesting topic came up on the commute this morning. One of our groups daily Ham radio commuters finishes his QSO with "well I will be taking a standby guys, as I am being pulled over by a NYS Trooper". Then there was silence from our friend for about 10 minutes until he came back with the story. Well, you can almost imagine the story, but he did get a ticket and it brings up a lot of questions. (With that persons permission, we will try to update this article after he goes to court).

After this incident, another local Ham suggested that we might share some of the legal opinions and references on using our amateur radios in vehicles here in New York State.

So here goes....................

NYS DMV DRIVING OPINION from the Hudson Division ARRL, August 2013:

"Given the concern that many hams have regarding the new “Distracted Driving Law” that went into effect in New York this past July, particularly since the law increased the penalty to 5 points on a license, I recently asked the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Counsel’s office for an explanation of both the cell phone and distracted driving laws and how they apply to hams.

The opinion, is attached. I suggest that you read it thoroughly. It’s very detailed but simply put, it says the following:

Monday, July 11, 2016

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND US NORTHERN COMMAND ARE HOLDING EXERCISE VITAL CONNECT IN LEWISTON NEW YORK THIS WEEK AND HAVE ASKED FOR AMATEURS TO MONITOR THE 60 METER INTEROPERABILTY FREQUNCIES SPECIFICALLY 5.330.5Mhz (Channel 1) AND PROVIDE RECEPTION AND PROPAGATION REPORTS.
INFORMATION NEEDED:

1. DATE & TIME YOU WERE MONITORING.
2. SUMMARY OF CONTENT HEARD WHILE MONITORING.
3. READABILITY OF TRANSMITTING STATIONS.

AMATEURS ARE ASKED TO MONITOR FROM 10:00AM UNTIL 3:00PM 12 JULY 2016
AND FROM 09:00AM UNTIL 3:00PM ON 13 JULY 2016 AND PROVIDE THEIR
PROPAGATION AND RECEPTION REPORTS TO THE DESIGNATED POINT OF CONTACT BY EMAIL.

POINT OF CONTACT FOR WNY IS JOSEPH TEDESCO KC2DKP/AAR2JI AND HIS EMAIL IS KC2DKP@VERIZON.NET

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT IN MONITORING THIS EXERCISE AND PROVIDING THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) has announced that it is ceasing operations as of the end of July, 2016.

The Milwaukee-based retailer has four locations around the country, including Milwaukee; Cleveland (Wickliffe), Ohio; Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida. It has long been the nation's second-largest ham radio dealer, after Ham Radio Outlet. No reason was given for the decision to close the business.

I will miss the AES guys in Cleveland! ...they have always been very helpful and stocked almost everything. Place an order before 2 pm and it was standard UPS shipping to my house in just 2 days. ........Always stopped at the Orlando store when I was in Central Florida!

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Tim was recently presented the 2016 President's Award by the Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse (RAGS).

Tim is one of those guys who gives a lot back to our great hobby! He is always willing to lend his knowledge and experience to Hams new or old. He has been a promoter and constant advocate for getting weekly NET's going almost every night of the week here in CNY. If he isn't running one, he is usually one of the most consistent check-ins! You can find Tim morning, noon or night on the 146.67 repeater in Syracuse.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

The Fulton Amateur
Radio Club is participating in the International Lighthouse weekend this year at the Oswego Lighthouse. It should be a great
event as the lighthouse has been closed to the public and we will be operating from
the radio room there. There may be a chance that some groups of the public will be
brought out to the lighthouse while we are operating.

The event takes place August 20-21, 2016. The special
event call sign is W2L. It is located at the Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse on
Lake Ontario in Oswego.

-------------------------------------------------------Verona Beach Lighthouse:
On August 20th and 21st of 2016, I
will once again be setting up a special event station at the Verona Beach
lighthouse on 4th Avenue in Sylvan Beach. The event is annual for
the 3rd weekend in August. I have set up the special event station
at the Verona Beach light for the past 3 years. With the permit already secured
and the Verona Beach Lighthouse Association on board, this may be the best one
yet! This year we will be operating from inside the lighthouse! Past years we
set up right next to the light and the VBLA opened the light so people could
look in. We have contacted 104 different lighthouses and lightships around the
world during this event! Over 500 lighthouses and lightships have “Ham”
stations set up for this weekend! Last year NYS Senator Griffo stopped by and
“worked the rig” for a bit. He even made contact with the Cape May lighthouse
in New Jersey. More information can be found at ILLW.net.

Thank you for the interest and hope to work many of you over the weekend.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Doug, W2GT is organizing an informal get-together Saturday, July 9th at Frontenac Park in Union Springs. The plan is to start in the early morning (~9am) set up a portable HF station and have some fun with other hams until probably mid-afternoon, depending on weather and band conditions, feel free to stop in. Doug and his group are regulars on the Bristol repeater (145.110, pl 110.9) and will be listening there.

Frontenac Park is on the NE corner of Cayuga Lake - take State Route 90 into Union Springs and turn onto Chapel Street to the park, the pavilion is in an isolated area at the south end of the park . Its only 15 minutes from Auburn and less than hour from many areas in Oswego, Ithaca, Syracuse and Rochester. Come on out, meet some nice folks and enjoy some Ham radio outdoors!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Field Day is coming soon........June 25th and 26th, 2016 If you want to meet some friendly hams or experience some different operating modes, why don't you stop by one of the many Field Day events taking place in our area. You will see various antenna and radio setups along with operators trying to share their knowledge and score some points making contacts through out the weekend. Its a lot of fun - so we hope to see you out there on field day!

What is Field Day?

Field Day is part educational event, part operating event, part public relations event – and ALL about FUN!

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Join Brian; KB2VSN at 7pm on the Tuesday night 6 meter net each week on the 53.67 mhz KD2SL, Syracuse and 53.05 mhz K2INH Auburn repeaters.The Net is sponsored by the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA). The NET is open to all licensed Hams. More people have been showing up each week, so come join the fun.

Join some of the gang on 50.400 mhz AM and 50.137 mhz SSB after the NET for more 6 meter fun on the "Magic Band"!

Friday, May 20, 2016

The Black Fly Challenge is a 40-mile destination (one-way) gravel grinder bicycle race. Over half the BFC race course includes gravel roads through the wild & scenic Moose River Recreation Area between Inlet and Indian Lake.

They are still looking for additional Amateur radio operators willing to participate on Saturday, June 11th. The race starts from Inlet NY this year. We have lots of locations with as much or as little challenge as you desire. We will primarily be operating high power mobiles to repeaters on Blue, Gore and McCauley Mountains, though some HF NVIS and simplex 2M communications may be utilized.

VE Tests at 9AM, no late entry allowed. Walk-ins welcome, although pre-registration is encouraged.
E-mail k2iwr@arrl.net; indicate which test you would like to take

Coffee and donuts will be available on site. Breakfast and lunch will be available at Hydes Diner or other nearby restaurants.

Travel directions {signs will be posted}: From the North or South: I-81 to exit 12; turn left on to Route 281 South. Turn left again on to Fisher Ave, (8/10 mile) then right on to Fairgrounds Drive.From Ithaca: Route 13 North to Route 281 North. Turn right onto Fisher Ave, then right on to Fairgrounds Drive.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the premier Cancer research and treatment
facility in Buffalo, NY is in need of volunteers to ensure the success
of the 21st annual Ride for Roswell. The fundraiser, with over 9,000 bicycle
riders, is being held Saturday, June 25, 2016 covering multiple counties as
well as Canada. (Yes, Field Day weekend). Most positions along the route
will be completed by 3pm.

Amateur Radio Operators are Urgently needed to support the Ride by acting
as support vehicles on the course and to provide vital communications for
the event as well as working in the operations center. If you can assist in
this
public service event, contact Joe - n2zdu@yahoo.com
for more information.

NON HAM VOLUNTEERS:

Non Amateur volunteer opportunities include Route Guides and Start/Finish
line drivers. If you can help for a few hours or the entire day please visit -
rideforroswell.org and register or call 716-843-7433 for more information.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

This famous Upstate NY event takes place on Sunday morning July 10th in Utica NY........We have several operator openings.......A great opportunity to see the race up close......There is a Big Volunteer party Friday Evening (about 3000 volunteers will be there) and also a Huge post race party on the West End Brewery grounds (a mad house :-) after the race...

OH YEAH.....I forgot to mention.......Everybody has to be at their station by 7:00 AM. Your duties will be a maximum of 4 hrs, depending on your position.

Please give Bud (W2GLN) a call at 735-8798 or call Bob Decker (AA2CU) at 797-6614 or e-mail me at budw2gln@aol.com

If you are interetsed please contact us ASAP....We have to submit our vounteer roster by the May 23rd.....Please contact me if you have questions or would like to sign up.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The next meeting of Onondaga County Radio Emergency Corp, RACES and ARES will be on Tuesday April 26, 2016 at the Liverpool Fire Department Station #1 (RT 57, Oswego Rd). Doors will open by 5:30...meeting to begin at 6 PM. Please park out back by the meeting room.

This is open to any amateur operator with an interest in auxiliary communications. You do not need to be a member.

Monday, April 18, 2016

The KD2SL 224.120 Repeater in Syracuse will be hosting a new Friday night Net starting at 7pm. This will be a general net, open to various discussion topics. N2VZD; Tim will be the "starting" host, but he hopes to have alternating NET control operators as time goes on. This is a great opportunity to get some experience running a NET. Contact N2VZD; Tim at N2VZD@aol.com if you are interested in helping out.

On the April 22nd Net, KD2SL; Kevin will start out the NET with an overview of his 220 repeater project and the work that went into bringing it on the air. Check out pictures at KD2SL.com.

So tune in to 224.120 Mhz (-) PL = 103.5, starting this Friday and join the fun!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Thanks to K2WOP; Curt, we have finally picked a spring date to get a breakfast scheduled and open to ALL local Hams. It will be Sunday, May 15th at 10 am, come early or stay late. This is a great chance to meet up with some of the folks you talk to on the air, but possibly have never met in person. Come on all you drive time radio jockeys, "6M QCWA Netters", CNY SWAP and Hobby Net check-ins - we hope to see you all there.

Location: The "Finally Ours Diner" is at 3788 West Seneca Turnpike, at the corner with Cedarville Rd. in the Onondaga Hill area of Syracuse (see directions here:http://finallyoursdiner.com/hours-contact ).

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Spring Basic Skywarn training will be happening on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at the Clay fire station No. 1 at 4383 State Route 31, Clay, NY 13041. Class will run from 6:30pm - 8:30pm for anyone in Onondaga County looking for SkyWarn training.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The Fulton Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring the Thomas Cantine Jr. W2TQF Memorial Scholarship. This is a great opportunity for any amateur radio licensed student in CNY. Those living in Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga or Jefferson counties are eligible to participate.The application deadline is May 6th, 2016. The application, along with more information about Thomas Cantine and the scholarship is available at: https://www.fultonamateurradioclub.org/W2TQF_Scholarship

Friday, April 1, 2016

Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) is an exciting and demanding motorsport featuring some of the most challenging roads in the world, drawing top worldwide professional rally teams. STPR® 2016 marks the 40th running of this event, the oldest, continuously running motor sports event in PA. Wellsboro PA is a scenic tourist destination, 2 hours south of Rochester. Licensed amateur radio operators are needed for rally communications, for net control, at spectator and safety checkpoints, to ride in rally vehicles, and other duties. Volunteers get free food, free camping, free t-shirt, pin and bumper sticker, free admission to the fairgrounds, the best rally spectating, and other benefits. This may be the most fun you’ll have as a ham. Go to www.stpr.org for more information and to volunteer check out http://www.stpr.org/volunteers/.

Ask for more info at RARA meetings and someone will tell you their STPR stories. If you’ve never seen this type of motorsport before, it’s similar to world rally or global rallycross, small powerful cars going as fast as they can through the woods on dirt roads.

Performance rallying is the exciting and demanding motorsport. With its high percentage of stage miles and a course featuring some of the most challenging roads in the world, STPR® is one of the America’s best-known rally events.STPR® regularly draws the top rally teams from the United States, Canada and abroad who enjoy putting their skills to the extreme test of performance rally. Competitors from the worldwide professional rally community are also found at this premier event.References: April 2016 RARA Rag (Jon Dickason,N2JAC) and the STPR website.

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about this blog:

Managing repeater and NET frequencies was a tough problem for me. So I started to keep my notes on frequencies, NET's and Club and Hamfest information here. Over time we have added all kinds of information of interest to Upstate NY Radio enthusiasts. I will also try to update old posts with confirmations and updates as I get new information .I have a broad range of interests and love to share much of the cool stuff I stumble across.

We will try to post information for Upstate New York from Albany west to Buffalo and from Binghamton north through the 1000 Islands and Adirondacks. You may notice more news from Central and Northern NY (because that's where I live and recreate.....), but we will try to cover as much of the Upstate New York Region as possible.